In Praise of a Couple of Obscure Stocks

Summing up the case for a Morningstar utility pick and a small insurer that hedge-fund star David Einhorn likes.

Most investment journalism is devoted to covering the big, household-name stocks. And the coverage is even greater if those stocks have anything to do with smartphones and other cool gadgets we use every day.

But it's the smaller stocks engaged in unglamorous but needed businesses that often provide better opportunities for alpha-chasing investors. That's because they are more likely to be mispriced than their better-followed...